Untitled (For Now)
by TheQuasiZillionaire
Summary: Naruto is exiled shortly after the Oto/Suna invasion because of the terrible power he possesses and travels with Jiraiya to Kumogakure, where Naruto meets Nii Yugito, a fellow jinchuuriki with a difficult past. What adventures will befall the two young demon-jailers? Will Naruto ever return to Konohagakure? Naruto/Yugito. Rated T for now.
1. The Calm (Sort of) Before the Storm

It was a new moon, and the night was filled with darkness: the kind of darkness that makes the strongest of shinobi shiver and can cause a Hyūga to lose his way. A deep, oppressing darkness which seemed to force itself onto everything, dimming street lamps and blotting out the stars. There was nobody roaming the regularly busy streets of Konoha. The nighttime crowd was literally nonexistent, and the nightclubs and bars had closed early, allowing their owners to return to the warmth of their homes and families. Citizens as well as shinobi – the ones who weren't on patrol duty, at least – were holed up inside, either asleep or huddled by a fire in an attempt to hold the blackness at bay. As if waiting for the depression of the murky night to pass, the normally bustling village was completely silent and still.

Well... almost.

Examining his work, the boy put his hands on his hips and nodded to himself proudly, a wide grin on his whisker-marked face. He could see quite well in the pitch black, a fact to which he payed little notice at the time. After all, he had always had above-average eyesight; he'd just assumed it was normal. Chuckling quietly, the young shinobi jumped down from his rooftop viewpoint, spiky blonde hair bouncing lightly at each bound. Now, all that was left was to wait. Unfortunately, that was the hardest part, especially considering that it would be several hours until the sun began to shed its light upon the quiet village. Deciding that a few hours of sleep was far better than a few hours of boredom, the boy jogged back to his dilapidated apartment and hopped into bed without taking his clothes or even his shoes off. He knew, based on the time he had painted the Hokage monument, that he would likely need to leave quickly in the morning. He fell asleep with a satisfied grin, happy with the night's work.

– – + – –

"NARUTO! GET OUT HERE THIS INSTANT! DON'T MAKE ME BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR!"

Naruto sat bolt upright in his bed, awake instantly. He looked at his alarm clock, which read "5:37 AM." Damn, they were early. But that was okay. He was more prepared than last time: this time, he had an escape plan. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu:_ Shadow Clone Technique," he whispered, forming a familiar hand sign. In a large puff of smoke twenty more Narutos suddenly populated the room.

"Alright, guys, you know the plan," he said in a low voice, grinning foxily from ear to ear. The clones nodded eagerly, practically bouncing with anticipation. "Well then... let's do it!"

– – + – –

The man outside the door – he had his hair in a ponytail and a scar across the bridge of his nose and under his eyes – waited a few moments, checking for a response. "OKAY THEN, I'M COMING IN!" he shouted when there wasn't one. He backed up a few steps, readying to charge the door and bust it down with his shoulder. Just as he ran forward, eyes squeezed shut and body tensed for the impact, the door swung open. The man flew through the doorway, stumbling and falling face first onto the floor of the apartment.

"Oh, hey, Iruka-sensei. What's up?" muttered a sleepy-eyed Naruto, looking strangely at his academy teacher and surrogate older brother.

"You know perfectly well what is up, Naruto," Iruka growled, lifting himself off of the floor and glaring angrily at the boy. "You're coming with me to Hokage-sama's office. Now. His orders," he growled. "You gonna come quietly this time?"

Naruto grinned and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, hehe..."

"We know it was you. There is no point in trying to get out of it. Now, you can come quietly, or the ANBU squad waiting outside your door can come in here and bring you in by force. Your pick," Iruka stated firmly.

Naruto sweatdropped. They even brought ANBU this time! "Okay, okay, I'll come quietly. No need to force me anywhere."

"Good. Let's go."

– – + – –

Even at his most pleasant, the Sandaime Hokage was not a man to be trifled with. At the moment, he was not at his best; in fact, he was quite angry. "Okay, Naruto. Explain to me why the village gate is now pink, on both sides," ordered the old leader, using his most stern and commanding voice.

Naruto looked thoughtful. "Y'know, pink is a pretty color. Sakura-chan's hair is pink. Besides, this village could use a little color. Everything's just browns and grays."

"You know we're going to have to bring you in for interrogation if you don't answer my questions, don't you?" Sarutobi said menacingly. "We'll start with 'why.' Why did you do it, Naruto?"

"It's like I said, Jiji! Since you made me take all the paint of the Hokage monument back when I was in the academy, there just wasn't enough color in Konoha! I was just spicing the village up a bit!" Naruto cried indignantly.

"Naruto, you are thirteen years old now, too old to be doing this kind of thing. Shouldn't you be training for the final part of the Chūnin Exams anyways? Now is no time to be wasting valuable training hours on foolish jokes."

"Aww, c'mon, Jiji. Once I'm a Chūnin I won't be able to do pranks anymore. I needed to go out with a bang, y'know? After all, I am Konoha's Number One Prankster. I have to set a high standard, or else someone will take my title!" pouted the blonde boy. Suddenly, he grinned. "Besides, I was training. The wall patrols didn't catch me, did they?"

Sarutobi sighed. "Well, Naruto, I'm afraid I can't let you off unpunished this time. You will clean the gates today, and –"

"Oi, Jiji," Naruto interjected, pointing behind the old Hokage, a devious smile on his face. "Look."

"What is it, Nar –" His eyes widened in surprise. Twenty Narutos stood outside the office window, grinning mischievously and waving. Sarutobi whipped his head around to look at the Naruto he had been talking to.

"See ya Jiji!" he cried, and poofed into a cloud of white smoke. The other Narutos let out a whoop and dashed off in various directions.

A damned shadow clone. That sneaky bastard. He should have guessed the kid would have something up his sleeve. "Wolf-san!" he shouted to his office door, thoroughly annoyed.

An ANBU agent with a wolf mask immediately stepped in. "Hai, Hokage-sama. What is the problem?"

"Naruto tricked us. He currently is running around Konoha with twenty or so shadow clones. I need you to find the real one and bring him here."

Wolf-mask sweatdropped. Again? "Hai, Hokage-sama. We'll get right to it." The ANBU left, closing the office door behind him.

Sarutobi propped his head up in his hands, elbows on his desk, and sighed exasperatedly. This was going to be a long day.

– – + – –

After about three hours of chasing shadow clones, running into unexpected traps, and becoming a mixture of extremely annoyed and grudgingly impressed with the loud blonde ninja, the ANBU squad – with the help of several regular Chūnin and Jōnin – finally managed to apprehend the real Naruto and turn him in to the Hokage. The old man dealt his ultimatum quickly. "Naruto, you are to clean the gates – both sides – today, no later."

Naruto simply grinned at this. He had been expecting this consequence and had used water-soluble paint. A quick rinse would have it clean in no time.

"Also," Sarutobi added, smiling when Naruto's smug grin slid quickly off his face. "You have fifteen hours of community service to complete, starting as soon as the Chūnin Exams are over. You are dismissed."

"Aww, Jiji..." Naruto moaned.

"Dismissed, Naruto."

Naruto hung his head and left, grumbling under his breath about stupid old geezers, and how pink really wasn't such a bad color, anyways.

* * *

**A/N: **This is my first fanfic ever, so criticism is appreciated. Please note that aspects of this story _will_ differ from the manga. While I did not create the world of Naruto, in this story it is mine to mess with as I wish. Do not complain about stuff that I have changed around, unless there is some valid reason why I should have done something differently. Thanks!

**5/9/13:** Updated! (Minor grammar/spelling fixes.)

**7/19/13:** Updated! (Decided to remove internal dialogue.)


	2. The Storm Begins

The last week before the final part of the Chūnin Exams went by without any major hitches for the orange-clad genin. Sure, Sakura still refused to acknowledge his existence and Sasuke was acting like even more of an emo after that creepy snake guy gave him that weird mark, but his training under Ero-sennin was going quite well and old man Ichiraku was still giving him discounts on ramen for being such a faithful customer. All in all, things really weren't looking all that bad.

Now, the final contestants were all waiting in the massive arena for the final matches to begin. Eventually, the stands were full, and the proctor, Shiranui Genma, was ready to begin. "The first match..." Genma, his voice amplified by a jutsu, paused for the crowd to quiet down. "The first match will feature... Hyūga Neji... and Uzumaki Naruto. The rest of the contestants, please make your way up to the balcony."

A buzz went through the audience. Naruto knew that nobody expected him to win against the so-called prodigy of the Hyūga clan. He won his preliminary match against Kiba with a fart, for Kami's sake. It was an interestingly opportune fluke, but crude as it may have seemed, Naruto did not hesitate to use it to his advantage. He did not doubt that he would have won the match either way, but he was perfectly willing to look like a fool if it kept others more or less in the dark about his capabilities.

But then, there were very few people who truly knew much about Naruto, anyways. Sure, he was nowhere near as smart as Shikamaru or Sakura, but he wasn't nearly as dumb as people made him out to be. As a matter of fact, he wasn't dumb at all; he was simply energetic and carefree. If people were going to mistake his loud self-expression for stupidity, all the better for him. People tend to underestimate stupid kids, and that could be used to his advantage.

And so, confident in his ability to surpass the crowd's and Neji's low expectations, Naruto took his position across from his opponent in the middle of the arena.

– – + – –

Genma stepped towards them, and the crowd hushed. "You guys know the rules. Fight until one or both of you are unable to fight or are killed. I may stop the match at any time. If either of you continues attacking after I have called the match, you will be immediately disqualified. Remember that the primary goal here is to incapacitate, not to kill. That being said, you may begin." Genma jumped away, allowing the combatants room to battle.

Naruto immediately did his usual maneuver: he charged at the Hyūga headfirst, creating several shadow clones as he went. In an attempt to test for himself the power of the Hyūga dōjutsu, he sent the clones at Neji from several directions, all of them throwing kunai at every possible opening, testing the extent of the Byakugan's vision. Neji danced in and out of the clones' paths, shutting off their chakra flows with the trademark chakra-enhanced finger jabs of the Hyūgas' Jyūken taijutsu style. Since the shadow clones run on chakra, they poofed from existence immediately, until only the real Naruto was left. He thought it really was quite impressive, even as he barely avoided a Jyūken strike to the chest. Neji had not a scratch on him. It seemed he really could see in every direction.

After several minutes of dogged shadow clone attacks, Naruto stopped, breathing heavily.

Neji, also noticeably winded and beginning to run low on chakra, frowned and settled back into his stance. "You cannot win, Uzumaki. Fate has already determined the outcome of this match."

"I don't believe in fate, Neji," Naruto said, grinning. "But if you know how this is going to end already, feel free to stop trying so hard. I'm sure fate will make the right choice for you."

Neji gave no outward response, instead choosing to go on the offensive for the first time. Almost immediately, Naruto was herd-pressed to avoid any one-hit knockout blows. Neji's speed and precision in close-range combat was beyond compare. Try as he might, Naruto could not block everything. After only a couple of minutes, Neji managed to jab two of the tenketsus in Naruto's right hip, weakening the chakra flow to that leg and causing the blonde genin to stumble, momentarily off-balance. Neji did not waste the opportunity.

"You are within range of my field of divination," stated the Hyūga calmly, quickly assuming an unusual stance.

That couldn't mean anything good. Naruto attempted to adjust his center of gravity to avoid the attack, but his weakened leg refused to respond properly.

"_Jyūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō;_ Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." Neji leaped forward with blinding speed and struck Naruto twice in his left side. "Two palms!"

Looping around to Naruto's right, he struck twice more. "Four palms!"

Repeating the curving maneuver, he struck four different spots on the backs of Naruto's shoulders. "Eight palms!"

Eight points on his quadricep leg muscles. "Sixteen palms!"

Sixteen jabs around his spine. "Thirty-two palms!"

And finally, thirty-two strikes to Naruto's orange-clad chest, finishing with one particularly powerful punch to his upper abdomen, sending the boy flying several yards backwards. "Sixty-four palms!"

Naruto landed, sliding a few extra feet in the dirt. At first, unimpressed with the physical power of the attack, he attempted to get up and continue the fight. To his surprise and momentary dismay, his limbs seemed to be completely unable to move even an inch. Neji had shut down all the major pathways of his chakra system. He must have been closing tenketsus since the beginning. It would seem he was not called the Hyūga prodigy for nothing. But there was surely a way out of it: there always was.

Neji relaxed his stance and switched off the Byakugan, sure of his victory. "So you see, Uzumaki. You, who are nothing in this world, were destined from the beginning to lose this fight."

Naruto ignored him, focusing on his situation. His chakra was shut off, disabling his limbs entirely. He couldn't even mold chakra, seeing as all the key tenketsus were jammed.

"Over the course of this match, I have shut down exactly one hundred thirty-seven of your three hundred sixty-one tenketsus," Neji stated, staring arrogantly down at the limp boy. "You will not be able to move on your own for a few hours."

But tenketsus could be reopened by a separate chakra source, Naruto knew. Suddenly, it dawned on him. That was it! He didn't have any allies to help him... But he did have a separate chakra source! He suppressed a grin, letting the self-confident Hyūga rant while he prepared himself.

"I'll offer you the chance to forfeit now before I knock you out cold, Uzumaki. I would take it if I were you. Save yourself the humiliation."

Naruto reached deep inside himself, just like he had practiced with Ero-sennin, willing just a bit of the Kyūbi's chakra to come forth, but not releasing it into his system quite yet. He knew he could only control about one tail's worth of the chakra at the moment, but he did not even need that much to suit his purposes. He waited for Neji to make the finishing move.

"So be it," said the Hyūga, moving towards Naruto and bringing his arm back to end the match for good.

Seeing the arm pulled back, prepared to strike, Naruto opened the floodgates. He surged with power as the Kyūbi's chakra forced open every tenketsu, causing his body to glow red-orange and his teeth and finger nails to grow and sharpen slightly. He grinned. Nobody would think twice about a slight change in faciaal features and posture. After all, the Inuzuka clan was quite prominent within the village, and they looked like that most of the time.

Then, a thick cloak of chakra began to form around his body, releasing a wave of evil intent in all directions. The extremely tense and even fearful looks on the majority of the audience members' faces showed that the massive pulse of chakra was felt throughout the stadium. He had released more chakra than he had intended. He hadn't practiced suppressing the chakra at all, just trying to bring it out.

Anyone who remembered the day of the demon fox's attack on Konoha knew the evil feeling of that chakra, and those who were too young to recall it were nonetheless shaken by the intense malice that radiated from the blonde boy. But he couldn't reverse it now, so he would just have to use it before somebody could mess things up.

Before Neji could react to this entirely unforeseen and – though he would never admit it – frightening power, Naruto was under his guard, ready to strike. The speed change was incredible: even had his Byakugan been activated, Neji would have had difficulty tracking the chakra-cloaked Genin. Seeing as it was _not_ activated, he was entirely unable to block the incoming attack.

With a cry, Naruto thrust his balled fist up into Neji's jaw. The punch had enough power to launch Neji several feet into the air, as well as knock him out cold. As Neji dropped to the earth, Naruto looked up. The crowd was silent, frozen in shock and not a small amount of terror. Naruto quickly sealed off the flow of fox chakra, causing his canine features to fade, and looked up at Genma expectantly. The proctor shook the surprise off of his face, and enhanced his voice again. "The winner of match one is... Uzumaki Naruto."

There was a smattering of applause, but not much. Naruto bowed his head, frowning, and began walking to the waiting balcony, pondering the implications of what had just happened. He'd definitely need to figure out how to use the volatile chakra without alerting the entire country of his presence. The audience – at least, the less-informed members of the audience – probably thought he'd lost control. It would be no surprise if he found a few ANBU tailing him in the next few weeks.

– – + – –

Naruto was walking up the stairs inside the arena that went up to the balcony, brooding over the possible effects of his sudden usage of the Kyūbi's chakra. So far, the demon fox hadn't said anything, which was just fine as far as the blonde genin was concerned. He'd probably just tell him to kill everyone, anyways. He never had any useful advice. Not concentrating on where he was walking, Naruto did not notice the thin layer of sand coating the floor until it was too late.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, here's Chapter 2, with a nice little cliff-hanger at the end there. I guess I should make sure everyone knows that things will not be the same as the manga or anime, even in the Exam arc. In this story, Naruto is actually smarter than he acts; he just likes to act foolish because it's fun, and not stressful. Also, I'd like some feedback on that fight scene. I've never written a fight scene, so I'd like to know where I can improve. Please refrain from pointless flaming. You will be ignored. See ya next chapter!

**5/9/13:** Updated! (Minor grammar/spelling fixes.)

**7/19/13:** Updated! (Decided to remove internal dialogue.)


	3. A Snake in the Sand

Naruto was jolted out of his introspection when he found that his legs, which had been strolling along just fine last time he had checked, were no longer moving. Surprised, but not particularly alarmed, he moved to continue on his way to the waiting balcony. Apparently, his feet had other plans, as they stubbornly refused to budge, resulting in the blonde flailing his arms wildly in an attempt to regain his balance. Now thoroughly miffed and more than a little bit apprehensive, he looked down at his feet to diagnose his abrupt inability to walk. What he found did nothing to assuage his apprehension.

There was a layer of sand on the hallway floor, which, to Naruto's surprise and dismay, had somehow gathered up around his ankles and trapped his feet mid-step. Some sort of sand jutsu? Where had he seen sand jutsu before... His eyes widened in comprehension, remembering Rock Lee's battle against the sand user, Gaara, in the preliminary rounds...

– – + – –

"_Hidden Lotus!" Lee roared, smashing the heel of his palm and the sole of his foot into the sand user's stomach in a super-powered double-strike. Gaara shot to into the ground like a bullet, smashing several square meters of the concrete floor to rubble. Lee landed on the other side of the torn-up stadium, gasping for breath and barely able to move after opening five of the chakra gates. The smoke and dust cleared, revealing the Suna redhead on his back, damaged but very much alive. His sand armor was nearly gone, and the large gourd he wore on his back was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he had dissolved both into sand in order to absorb most of the impact, which otherwise would have been instantly fatal. _

_Still on his back and breathing heavily, Gaara reached out with his right hand towards the debilitated Lee, sending a small stream of sand at him. In his weakened state, the taijutsu specialist was unable to get out of the way, and soon his left arm and leg were engulfed. "Sand... funeral," Gaara grunted as Lee attempted to pull away, crushing the green-clad boy's trapped limbs instantly. Lee collapsed, unconscious from the pain, finally defeated against all odds. _

– – + – –

Naruto looked around, searching for any sign of a certain sand-manipulating psychopath's presence. "Oi! Quit hiding, you psycho bastard!" he yelled.

Surely enough, from around a corner just ahead, out stepped Gaara, wisps of sand swirling around his feet. "Kaa-san is hungry..." he rasped in his strange throaty monotone. "She wants your blood."

"Do I know your mother? She doesn't sound like anybody I can think of. And why does she want my blood anyways?" returned the blonde.

"She tells me you are special... You are like me... Your blood will make her very happy."

"I'm like you?" Naruto frowned, thinking. His teammates obviously feared him; he had strange powers that he didn't seem to have full control over, and he was practically undefeatable. In what way were they similar? Yeah, a bunch of the villagers feared Naruto, and he couldn't fully command the Kyūbi's power, and apparently he was pretty hard to take down once his other chakra was out, but all that wasn't really him, it was that damn fox. Unless Gaara had a bijū, that wouldn't make any sense.

Another jolt of comprehension shot through him. He seemed to be having a lot of those lately. "You're a jinchūriki," he gasped.

The quiet boy simply stared, arms folded across his chest. Naruto took that as a "yes."

"AWESOME!" he yelled, throwing his fists into the air like he had just been given ten million ryō, while seeming to completely forget the barely-veiled death threats for which he was the target. "Hey, which one do you have? I've got the Kyūbi no Kitsune! He's pretty much a dirty, murdering, ungrateful bastard, but he's crazy powerful. Is yours all evil, too? How many tails does it have? I know there are nine bijū, but I don't know all their names..."

The red-haired jinchūriki, judging by the slight widening of his eyes and minute relaxation in his posture, was slightly stunned at his Konoha counterpart's sudden outburst. Nobody had ever reacted to his not-so-secret like _that_ before, that was for certain. He quickly recovered his emotionless stare. "It doesn't matter," he interrupted the excited blonde. Naruto stopped mid-sentence, a frown of disappointment decorating his whiskered face. Gaara continued, "I am going to kill you now. Kaa-san will have your blood."

"Hey, now," Naruto said, attempting to pull out of the sand that was creeping up his legs with increasing speed. "Can't we just talk about this or something?"

"Only through blood can I know that I am alive. Killing proves my existence." Gaara's voice increased in pitch as his bloodlust took control, his face tightening into a crazed snarl. "You will verify that I am alive, and so will this whole village," the boy chuckled maniacally.

Naruto's eyes narrowed instantly, and he stopped his frantic struggling against the thickening sand. "What do you mean, 'this whole village'? This is my village! You keep your stupid sand off of my people!"

The redhead just laughed, a psychotic glint appearing in his eyes. "With you gone, nobody will stop me! They will all DIE, and I will be alive: so ALIVE!" He was practically screaming now, any sanity he possessed completely gone out the window.

The short, blonde genin's rage began to take control. His eyes slitted and turned blood-red, and his fangs grew out in his snarling mouth. A fox-shaped cloak of red-orange chakra formed around him, and in an explosion of sand, he was free of the encroaching cocoon. He pointed at the Suna jinchūriki with a sharpened fingernail, a single tail of demonic chakra whipping about behind him. "You won't kill anybody on my watch, you bastard!" he yelled. In his rage-induced state, Naruto did not see the massive cudgel of sand hurtling towards his side.

– – + – –

Outside, in the stadium, Sabaku no Temari was preparing mentally for her match against Nara Shikamaru. Neither the Uchiha kid nor Gaara had shown up for the second match, and Kankurō had forfeited his match to Aburame Shino, probably to keep his moves a secret for the real show. Kankurō's forfeit was no big deal, she understood where he was coming from. She might have done that herself, if she weren't so damn bored. Gaara's no-show was a bit disturbing, but it probably didn't matter much anyways. The Uchiha didn't show up either, and it seemed that that kid was so favored by his village that they moved the match to the end instead of disqualifying him. Still, what could Gaara have been doing? She hadn't seen him for a while. Had he somehow known that the Uchiha wouldn't show?

"Are both contestant's ready?" The Suna kunoichi's musings were interrupted by the proctor, Genma, who was standing and looking at her, one arm raised, ready to begin the match. She nodded her head. She was ready, alright. Genma looked over at Shikamaru, who nodded reluctantly, sighing something about how everything was so "troublesome."

"Good." The proctor activated his voice-amplification jutsu. "Match – uh, what is it now, four? – match four! Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru." He paused, for effect, then brought his hand down in a chopping motion. "Begin!"

SMASH!

No sooner had the word left Genma's mouth than the wall near one of the participants' entrances to the stadium exploded in a spray of rubble, sand, and one chakra-cloaked Genin. Said Genin flew quite a distance, landing about ten yards from the shocked would-be combatants. Out of the concrete dust walked Sabaku no Gaara, a blood-crazed grin splitting his normally emotionless visage, sand whirling around him like a living sandstorm, ready to act at his every whim.

– – + – –

Up in the Kages' viewing box, the Kazekage's eyes narrowed in frustration. The stupid kid couldn't even control his damn demon's bloodlust. It seemed the plan would have to move forward sooner than planned. He stood abruptly, casting off his robes and lunging at the nearby Hokage.

The Sandaime Hokage, however, was not entirely unprepared. The Kazekage had been acting particularly strangely since his arrival. He hadn't talked much, and wore a veil over the lower half of his face. It was a bit conspicuous, to say the least. Just to be on the safe side, he had been keeping a wary eye on the Suna leader whenever possible. It was fortunate that he had, as his watchfulness allowed him to leap out of his chair and dodge the other man's abrupt attack.

Failing his initial strike, the Kazekage jumped up onto the stadium rooftop, avoiding the retaliation of the ANBU standing guard near the Hokage. Said guards did not immediately follow to attack; after all, any misunderstanding could cause a national incident, or even a war. Looking down at the aged Sarutobi, he slowly removed the Kage hat from his head and pulled down the mask from his face. An abnormally long, pronged tongue slithered out of his mouth, and his pupils morphed to black slits surrounded by sickly brown-yellow irises, more befitting of a snake than a human being. "Why, hello... sensei." The man hissed, grinning sadistically.

The Hokage's eyes widened momentarily as he realized the identity of the "Kazekage" standing before him. Just as quickly they narrowed, and his face took on a look of finality and determination. "Stay here," he ordered the ANBU guards, "This is something I must take care of on my own."

An agent in a spider mask attempted to protest. "But Hokage-sama, we are–"

"But nothing. You will do as your Hokage orders," interceded the old man sternly. With that, he jumped nimbly to the rooftop, opposite to where the snake-like imposter stood.

No sooner had his feet touched the roof tiles than four ninja wearing the signature rope belts of elite Otogakure ninja appeared on the corners of the roof, seemingly out of thin air. They had their backs to the two ninja facing off in the center and were already forming a complex string of seals. Before any of the ANBU could react, a rectangular barrier, made of some sort of transparent purple energy, was rising, each corner anchored by one of the Oto ninja. The Hokage's guards tried attacking the wall, but quickly found that anything that touched it was instantly atomized. In less than ten seconds, there were identical barriers on both the inside and the outside of the four Sound ninja, trapping the Hokage and his opponent in, and keeping everybody else out.

Inside the purple walls, the "Kazekage" grinned evilly, his overly snake-like tongue flicking out of his wide mouth every several seconds. The Hokage seemed entirely unperturbed by the creepy man; something that could not be said about the Konoha ninja outside the barrier, who were worriedly wondering what kind of power this unknown ninja must have to challenge the strongest ninja in the strongest ninja village to a one-on-one battle. The conclusions they came to were unsettling to say the least.

Suddenly, the yellow-eyed imposter reached under the neckline of his shirt and slowly peeled the tanned skin away from his neck and face. Like a thin, detailed mask, the skin and brown hair came off easily, revealing a pale, narrow face decorated with two pointed purple lines extending a couple of inches down from the inner edges of his slitted yellow eyes and straight, pitch-black hair falling down below his shoulders. "It's so wonderful to see you again, Hiruzen-sensei," the man said in a voice that sounded like oil and dripped with malice.

"Unfortunately, I cannot say the same," responded the aged Hokage coolly. "Orochimaru."

* * *

**A/N: **Unfortunately, I have been bogged down quite a bit in schoolwork. I don't have the time to write at the moment, so I'm just uploading what I have for now. Fear not, this story is far from abandoned, but I'm going to have to take a bit of a break. Maybe a month, maybe two. I'll get back to it as soon as I'm caught up and have free time. Also, I am working on making the chapters longer. The next one will be. Thanks for reading!

**5/9/13:** Updated! (Minor grammar/spelling fixes.)

**7/19/13:** Updated! (Decided to remove internal dialogue.)


	4. Mini-Update Notice

Hey everyone!

First of all, I want to thank you profusely for your patience. Unfortunately, I'm also going to have to ask you to wait a little longer for a full update. I just finished AP testing, which means I'll have a bunch more free time in the near future, so I'm going to try to get back into writing this story again.

I just updated all three chapters, fixing a bunch of grammar mistakes and little tidbits. I'm kind of a perfectionist. :P You might want to reread Chapter 2, though. I cleared up (or at least I think I did) a little misconception that is kind of important later on.

Hopefully I'll be back into writing in a few weeks. I'm planning on writing ahead and setting up an update schedule, like once every couple weeks, so that it will be harder for me to get behind.

Thanks again for your patience, and I hope you stick around!

Not insincerely,  
~~~~~~~TheQZ

P.S. I'll delete this once I update again.


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